Red inCarnation
by St.Ar. of Suzume
Summary: My name's Kuzan, named after my grandfather, a great firebender.After I've left my town as a child and being taught at a Firebending academy red carnations reminds me of something...Something I've lost long ago...
1. Chapter 1

_**AN: **Uhhh.. I dunno where this comes from.. just popped into my head It takes place at Aang's and Kataras time, so I may add a bit kataang later, but the first chapters are about MY main characters._

_Billeh did the proof reading as always THANKS!!!! D_

**Disclaimer: _I don't own the Avatarworld or any of it's characters. But I do own the idea for this story and for the characters Linn and Kuzan (the second)_**

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**Prologue I**

My name's Kuzan. I really don't like my name, but it has my grandfathers name, was a great firebender and maybe my parents hoped I'd become a great one too by wearing the same name.

I mean, I'm really not bad at it, just not uber-brilliant. Well, at least not uber-brilliant in the so called 'Important things', which means fighting skills. What I'm good at is creating little fireworks with lava, forming dragons with flames and at juggling with rings of fire. As you can see, I'm great at doing 'unimportant' stuff. But at least it was good to impress the girls at my town with it. – Come on, I know you would do that too if you could.

At the age of ten I already had a small fanclub, a bunch of girls that where gathering around me when I started my show. But I didn't noticed them, just one girl. My special guest. The girl, who I made all this for. She was really worth it.

Her hair was long and black, like silk shimmering in the sun and bended in two braids at either side of her head, crowned from a red flower on each top. Her skin was pale and smooth and her brown eyes had a mysterious, green shimmer hidden in them. She was the most beautiful girl I've ever seen. And her name was Linn. Say it for a couple of times, again and again, and it's like a spell. Well, it was like a spell on me – and her too.

I had my first crush on her and was sure that she would be my future wife. I've stolen apples and cherries for her from the neighbours garden, trying to impress her. And she was impressed, cause one day she placed a kiss on my cheek, lightly and softly like the wings of a butterfly. We acted nearly like a couple and best friends at the same time, being only 10. I spent everyday with her, playing hide and seek, exploring the neighbours gardens, the nearby woods and in summer we swam in the nearby lake.

I was her only friend.

The other children never played with her, even didn't talk to her. The adults at our town whispered things about her and her mom I couldn't understand past then, I was just too young. I couldn't understand why my mom told me one day I maybe should stop playing with her.

"She isn't the right friend for you, Kuzan-chan", she said to me with her warm, loving voice. "Her father wasn't from here."

"What's so bad about that?", I wanted to know, but my mom didn't answer and just smiled.

I think she didn't know what to say.

I ignored everything I've heard about Linn from the others. She was still my best friend and I liked her and was sure I would marry her. I didn't care a thing that she was 'mixed', something everyone whispered when she was seen. For me she was perfect and I was sure we would never part, that we would stay together for forever.

I was wrong.

A few months before I turned eleven, a group of firebenders came to our town. They came from the military academy and I was astounded by their armour that was twinkling in the sunlight. The black and red colours were so pretty, I couldn't stop staring at them.

Linn wasn't there when they came. I didn't see her all three days the soldiers where there, my mom told me that she was hidden, but I didn't understand why. It had something to do with her father and the problem that she was somehow 'mixed', but it was hard for a almost 11-year old to understand that.

Especially because the soldiers wanted to take me with them. I should go to their academy, should become a soldier like them. It sounded like heaven in my ears, because it seemed like a big adventure, something great. Something Linn would have liked too.

On sunny days we had fought with sticks at the river bench – and man, she was really good at fighting. And she was really pretty when she did. Her eyes shimmered in a bright green then, her lips were curled in a satisfied smile and her hair were flying through the air.

I couldn't say goodbye to her. I couldn't even send someone to her, to give her a note from me. Nobody knew where she was and her mom didn't open the door.

So I left, my heart broken, promising myself that I wanted to come back. Back to this town and to her.

But the years passed and my education at the firebending academy developed... and the memory of Linn seemed to fade more and more till it was gone...

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tbc


	2. Chapter 2

**AN: **_The next chapter, or better: The second Prologue!_

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**Prologue II**

My name's Linn. It is my father's name, just with one "n" more. I've never met my father, but my mom told me that he was a warm hearted and humorous man. The green shimmer in my brown eyes reminds her of him, she often says.  
I don't know why he left. My mother tried to explain it to me, but I didn't understand. I was some _different kind_ and the people in the town wouldn't have liked to see him around here. I couldn't understand, because mom told me all these stories and he had to be the kindest and strongest man you've ever seen. And I wanted to see him. I wanted to know why my eyes had this green shimmer in them, I wanted to know why he had to leave.. and I wanted to know why the people in town were whispering about me, using the word 'mixed' too often. Mom never explained it to me. It would be to difficult for me to understand.  
But I wanted to understand why the other children never played with me. Why they threw stones at me, spat at me and called me names. Often I wanted to leave too, just like my father did right after I was born. And I think I maybe would have left, because my mom cause of being my mom an outsider too, if there haven't been at least one other child taking my place.  
This child had black hair that were standing up in every direction as if he had been hit by a flash. His eyes were golden and shimmering in the sun and his smile made your knees go weak. He was the most handsome boy I've ever seen. His name was Kuzan and he was my best friend. Say his name for a couple of times and you'll feel how a strong power is flooding through your vains. It was like a spell for me, soothed me when I felt like crying.  
I had my first crush on him and I wanted to marry him when I was older and he wanted to marry me too. He stole fruits for me and we ate them together, or we went to the river and swam or fought with sticks. If one of the other children was about to hit me, he was there, shouting like hell at them.  
Time after time they ignored him and it made me feel bad, but he told me that he didn't care and that I shouldn't worry because the other children weren't worth being friends with if they didn't recognise how nice I was.  
When the day dawned he showed me his firebending. He improved every day and it was so much fun to watch him showing off, trying to impress me. – And he impressed me! I clapped for him and he blushed and almost burned himself with the fiery rings he was juggling and I snickered, because it was so cute when he messed things up.  
He was my only friend.  
I was so sure that everything would stay like this. That we would always be like this and never change. That nothing would ever change. I built up a dream, an imagination that could be so easily destroyed.  
And it has been destroyed.  
One day in summer, men in red armour came to our town. I wanted to run towards them, bringing them flowers, red carnations like I wore in my hair, but my mom stopped me.  
"You can't go outside, Linn", she said to me, packing clothes and food into a bag.  
"But why mom? These are Fire Natoion soldiers, brave heroes, and everyone's going..", I trailed off, pressing the carnations I had picked against my chest.  
"Look into the mirror, Linn. What do you see? Green eyes. A green shimmer in your eyes, telling them everything."  
"But what! What are they telling?", I shouted. Mom didn't answer, she gripped my wrist and dragged me out of the house. I sent a last glance over to the Fire Nation soldiers, who stood in a crowd of kids. I saw a boy with messed up, black hair among them.  
"Mom, what's about Kuzan? He'll wonder where I am!" Mom dragged me to the woods. "I have to tell him where I go! And when I come back!" I got no answer and felt tears roll down my cheeks and my sight went blurry. "Will we ever come back, mom?", I asked finally, shaking because I didn't know if I wanted to know the answer.  
She stopped in the middle of the wood in front of a hige pile of stones, forming a small hill, and looked at me.  
"You will, when everything's over."  
"Just.. me?", I repeated. Mom threw the bag into a cave I hadn't noticed before.  
"Make up a place to sleep", she told me. "I'll go and search for firewood." I nodded and entered the cave to unpack the bag. While I was wondering about the fact that I couldn't find any clothes for mom, I heard a rumbling behind me – and my heartbeat stopped as I saw that a big stone had closed the entrance. I got up and ran towards it.  
"Mom! Mom!", I cried and hit the stone with my fists. I heard someone crying outside.  
"Forgive me, Linn, but they would take you away with them if they found you... You'll find water in the hidden lake at the end of the cave. I'll come back when the soldiers are gone", my mom sobbed.  
"But why? Why would they take me away with them?", I cried. I knew what she would answer. 'Because of the green shimmer in your eyes' or 'because you're mixed'.  
She had already left, and didn't return for me until three days had passed. I didn't speak a word to her; we walked back to our town in silence.  
And there my heart broke, because Kuzan was gone and I couldn't find any note that he had left behind. But I was hoping that he just hadn't had time and that he would return in a few years.  
The years passed and every morning I waited on the hill of our town, a bunch of red carnations in my hands. But he never returned... and the memory of Kuzan was burned into my mind, to never be forgotten...

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tbc


End file.
